My little big boy slept in his crib for the first time last night. It was the best night of sleep I’ve had since he was born. Why? Because the kid grunts ALL night long. Really…most kids coooo and make sweet sounds…but not Hud. Oh no, he grunts, a lot. It’s so hard to sleep through. So with him being in his room I only heard the crying when it was time to eat.

Can you believe he’s already 6 ½ weeks old? I can’t!

And the crappy part of him being 6 ½ weeks old?? I have to go back to work next Wednesday. I was supposed to have 12 weeks off but not happening anymore so I’m going back. Sucks big time!

Caleb is doing good. He’s been slacking on school though. He has a hard time understanding that homework is more important then playing. I’m thinking all 4th graders have this problem though huh? He also is a ditz…and I say this with love but he is. He forgets his backpack, his homework, whatever you told him three seconds ago. But yet he can remember, in detail, what happened 5 years ago. Crazy kid.

Hi my name is Hudson and my Mommy made me a nice warm bath tonight which I love. She woke me up and put me in it and I was happy. I was so happy and so comfortable that I pooped right in the water. So Mommy drained the water and cleaned it and put more warm water in and I got so comfortable that I pooped again! I did it three times! Finally Mommy just drained the water and poured water out of the sink on me. I liked sitting in the water better but I guess it’s kind of gross to sit in poop water.

He’s become somewhat of a fussy foot here lately. He doesn’t want to spend very much time not being held. His favorite place to sleep is still my chest. I’m trying to get him to spend his sleeping time in cradle. At night he does fine in it although last night he got a little restless, he worked it out and finally put himself back to. He gets crankier in the evening/night and will squirm like crazy and fuss….usually I can swaddle his arms and put the binky in his mouth or nurse him and he’ll calm down and eventually fall asleep. He still sleeps a lot during the day. When he’s awake he’s usually content and happy.

I’ll get it figured out, just might take some time. Caleb was helpful thankfully. Caleb enjoys his little brother. He sings to him when he’s crying and is quick to get his binky for me.

At Hudson’s last doctor’s appointment last Monday he weighed 7 lbs, 4 oz and was 20 inches long. He’s a growing boy. He goes to the doctor again on Tuesday for a shot, poor kid, so we’ll see what he weighs again. Eating every two hours I’m sure puts some weight on him.

I’m doing well. Tired a lot…can’t seem to catch up on sleep. I haven’t got nearly as much done around the house as I wanted to but I’m sure I will. It takes a lot of time out of my day feeding him every two hours but I don’t mind, I like breastfeeding him. I love staying home with both of them. I wish I had the opportunity to stay home longer.

Caleb is doing great in school….only missed two on his first math test. He’s made a couple friends and plays dodgeball at recess. He made a friend around our neighborhood too and plays at the park all the time.

He’s growing up so fast. I noticed the other day he’s actually starting to get some meat on his bones…not fat, but meat. He’s always been skin and bones. Perhaps eating the way he ate last night helps. He plopped a scoop of mashed potatoes on his plate, put a scoop of corn on top, then his cut up steak and gravy then topped it off with some catsup and stirred it. Yuck! But he loved it and that’s what matters right. Told me I must have got it from a five star restaurant….if only. I hope he’s always so easy to please.

Caleb’s first week of school is going great! He made a new friend whose name is Bob but likes to be called Rob. And Caleb, who has another Caleb in his class, has decided to go by his self-given nickname KK. He’s a happy kid about that one. I was reading over all his paperwork and Washoe County requires that fourth graders have 40-60 minutes of homework every night and an additional 20 minutes of reading. Now the reading isn’t a big deal, he does that anyway to calm himself down for bed but the homework shocks me. I personally think that the only homework kids should have is leftover work from school or special projects/reports but who am I to decide this…a mom? They will be doing lots of reports this year his teacher said. I enjoyed helping him with his last report and he learned a lot. They also get four really cool field trips this year.

He had a fun trip to his Grandparents house. They shared these pictures with me. They plan lots of fun stuff for him and he eats it right up.

He got to meet his little brother Sunday night at the airport. It was so sweet. As soon as I signed for him he went over to the stroller to look at him. He was excited and wanted to push him. I think he needs to take a few driving lessons, especially since Hud wasn’t strapped in, but he didn’t fall out so that’s a good thing.

I said over and over again I would be perfectly content having no more kids and I’m sure I would have if I didn’t. However I am so happy I had Hudson. I am in love. Absolutely in love with him. I feel like I know him so well already…his schedule, his personality, his grunts and cries. I can’t stop steering at him, studying his features. I have always done this with Caleb…looking for new features, new freckles, facial changes. Hudson has found his cry but doesn’t do it much. We’ve had one rough night where he wanted to be awake and was a bit cranky but all was well the next night. He likes tummy time and can lift his head up and face it the other way. He also loves to poop in his new diaper, right away. Seriously, as soon as we put it on he poops in it. And we’ve been really quick to change his diapers because the poor baby has a rash already. It’s clearing up though

I’m doing well. Things are less sore. My milk has come in good and plenty. And I’m getting relatively enough sleep. I've been going a lot trying to make up for the time I lost before Hudson was supposed to be here ie. Putting together dresser, getting a crib, getting groceries, etc. etc.

Hudson is wonderful! He is an amazing baby. Seriously he only cries when he’s hungry and occasionally when we’re changing him. He eats (and eats very well….my boobs may be small but they have plenty of milk) every two hours, almost on the dot. About every other feeding he wakes up for two hours and is so content just looking around. He sleeps all night in between feedings…it’s me that has issues with getting up early…can’t seem to sleep long. But my boy and I do take a nap a bit later. He loves to cuddle on my chest to nap.

He had his checkup with the Pediatrician yesterday. I really like her. He lost 1.5 oz which she said isn’t bad; babies usually loose more……told you he eats well. She was worried he’d get jaundice since he was so bruised but no signs of it thankfully. All seems well with the blood sugar, she wasn’t worried about him only breastfeeding.

I miss my other baby and can’t wait to see him Sunday. He starts 4th grade Monday. I can’t believe it, my baby is starting 4th grade! He is having a blast at his Grandparents! I can’t wait for him to meet his brother too. He’s going to be such a good big brother.

There are two kinds of labor in this world for me. There’s Caleb labor, which while a horrible horrible amount of pain, I managed it. Then there is Hudson labor aka back labor and OH! MY! GOSH! That is a whole new different kind of pain!

So here’s the story….

About Tuesday or Wednesday last week I noticed that he dropped. Friday and Saturday I didn’t feel all that well…just sort of a stomach ache and just not feeling good. I woke up Saturday about 12:30 pm, got some last minute things done for Caleb and took him to the airport to fly to his Grandparent’s for a week.

That night I went to work as usual but drove myself (I decided like two days before that since it was getting closer to start driving myself just incase---talk about instincts huh?). I still felt like crap but I’m pretty good at just sucking it up. On the way to work I noticed some contractions. They didn’t hurt, just really intense tightening all over my stomach. I had been having them off and on and figured they go away as usual. I got to work and did my 10 pm count and they were still coming. So I sat down at my desk and watched the clock, they were coming every 3-5 minutes….still no pain, just these contractions (which is what I had with Caleb too). I did my 12 am count and they were still coming. I sat back down at my desk afterwards debating on whether or not to go home. They regulated to every four minutes and finally I decided to go home at 1:00 am. ---------causing some co-workers to freak out, ha ha!-----------On the way home I talked to my mom and they came every 4 minutes on the dot and my lower back started to ache with each one. My mom suggested I either go get checked or call Labor and Delivery.

I got home and called Labor and Delivery who had my call my doctor. The on call nurse told me to go in and get checked which I agreed since with Caleb I had these same contractions and they didn’t hurt until 7 cm so no telling what would happen. I drove in to the hospital and got checked in. I was 3 cm dilated and about 50% effaced. I was SHOCKED, I thought it was all in my head and they’d send me home. She called my doc and he had me walk around for two hours to see if I changed. The contractions at this point were coming every 3 minutes. After two hours and absolutely exhausted I laid down at 6 am to wait for my doc and my contractions slowed down to every 5 minutes. My doc came in and checked me and I was a 4 and 80% effaced. He said I was being admitted and suggested breaking my water to move it along. I agreed.

I left triage, was admitted in my room about 8:30 am and my doc broke my water. The first contraction I felt some achiness. The second a little worse. My like #7 or 8, HOLY CRAP! They didn’t hurt in my stomach at all but I swear to you my spine was being pulled apart. I always heard back labor was horrible but couldn’t imagine especially since I felt Caleb’s contractions all over my stomach and back. They were coming about every 4 minutes. The on call doc came in at about 9:30 to check me before going to the other hospital to deliver a baby. He said I was still a 4…mentioned pitocin (a drug to make your contractions stronger)….I asked to wait to receive it….he agreed since he was leaving and said he’d see me in a bit. By 10 am I tried to labor in an upright position to relieve some pressure on my back. It helped but not enough. It was unbearable. I threw all my plans out the door and requested an epidural. The nurse went to get the anesthesiologist and came back to inform me he just went in for a c-section and would be another 45 minutes—oh my gosh I was so sad. She said that I could have an iv drug if I wanted, I said yes. Now I didn’t want any drugs at all with labor but I didn’t think I could handle the pain. It was horrible…thank God I had about 1 minute of no pain between each contraction…especially when they had me lay back down so they could keep track of his heart beat. It was about 10:25 am at this point. She said she wanted to check me first before giving it to me and I was dilated to a 7-8 so she said NO I couldn’t have it. I thought I’d die. No epideral, no drugs, guess I had to follow my plan regardless. She said let me know if you feel like you have to push, otherwise she’d be back in a bit and left. Not 5 minutes later and like two or three contractions I felt his head start to push and he felt like he was coming out RIGHT THEN. They ran and grabbed her, she checked me, I was a full 10 and she sent for the other doctor. She told me not to push but I couldn’t help it. Actually I didn’t push, he did, he was coming and I couldn’t stop. They pulled the doc from the c-section he was doing, he came in, I pushed about two or three times and baby Hudson entered the world.

He was really purple and barely cried. They put him on my chest. They had to take him real quick though and give him some oxygen but I got him back pretty quickly. His whole body, especially his head was SO bruised. They said it was from him coming out so quickly. Despite being born so quickly. I got to nurse him and he latched on relatively easy.They moved me upstairs to my recovery room and reunited with my clean sweet baby. We had a wonderful day with him. That night they did a blood sugar test and it was low. I breastfed him and when they tested him again it was too low. They had to give him some formula (which I hated but understood). They tested him again after that and it was still too low. He had to have formula every two hours and be tested every two hours. To test him they had to prick his foot each time, poor baby. They let me breastfeed him after he had the bottle but he was so full he wasn’t interested. I was so scared he would prefer the bottle. Finally once it started coming up, they let me breastfeed him first and do formula second. It took him a few tries before he re-figured out how to nurse. Finally he was able to keep it up for three tests in a row yeah!

Since he was doing good, they let us go home yesterday about 1 pm. He’s been only breastfed since then. His face is so much better, not nearly as bruised but his poor poor feet are.

He’s mellow and tiny and wonderful. Hardly cries at all. He is nursing about every two hours. He slept great last night, only wake up to eat and poop. We were up at about 4 this morning so I thought I’d type this since he just fell back asleep.

I’m so blessed. I cannot thank God enough for this healthy, precious baby boy. I’m the luckiest girl in the word. Caleb and Hudson are amazing and healthy and my heart feels so full. I cannot wait for Caleb to meet his baby brother on Sunday (remember, he’s in the bay area at his grandparents). He was happy when I told him he was a big brother.